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Disclaimer
I: I have seen in reviews that the content had "spoiler"
ascribed to it. I feel that if you are reading a review, you invite
that upon yourself. If you don't want "spoilers," why would
you read a review of a product you do not own? I will not use the phrase
of "Contains Spoilers" in my reviews, if you want a non-biased
review that doesn't reveal content-look elsewhere.
Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly. |
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"…
In the neogi's worldview, ownership is what fuels the universe. Everything
belongs to the neogis as a whole—if not now, then it did in the
past or it will in the future. Even a neogi can be owned as a slave
by another neogi, and the slaves can own property and slaves, and those
slaves can own property and other slaves, and so on…" (Neogi
society, p. 160)
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WARNING SHOT: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons had multiple products with the same product name, as did its second edition. With a legacy of another collection another number, D&D's latest incarnation was destined to follow suit. The Monster Manual had a reprieve with Monsters of Faerûn, but not so with Monster Manual II. Designed with a more powerful gamer-set in mind, the Monster Manual II packs more higher challenge rating creatures into its pages. ... and even showcases how to screw up with the Open Game License. |
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The Monster Manual II is a legacy of gaming reinventing itself for those new to the whole D&D mystique. Not many fresh-face 3ers will know that the Monster Manual II was first released in 1983, collecting creatures that had appeared in various modules and magazine articles at the time. Our 3e version does the same, while striving to assists sales of the Epic-Level Handbook. This book has higher challenge monsters than the previous Manual's, with minor improvements to the series layout. It's still packed to the gills with good creature bashing fun, that's including the Chainmail universe creatures (okay, they're from the far-side of Oerth, sorry). Not counting the Desmodu, this book doesn't really get setting flavor (or setting use text) across well. (And as for the Desmodu, their another story...) Most of the reprinted creature suffer from tired retreading on a theme, or placed haphazardly from modules where they should have stayed, never to be seen again. I could see some use for tangent campaigning (after the module) but not much use beyond that. Did the Monster Manual II beat the Monster Manual in my grand scheme of monster book comparisons, sadly no. Both books are too alike to be honest, each does the "here's the monster" job, but doesn't back anything else up with them, as did the Monsters of Faerûn. Open Game License thoughts: Wizards did a great job in opening their system as never before, allowing users of the license to develop "D&D" products without paying a heavy "D&D licensing" fee. Which is where the D20 System logo comes into play with the various "D20 Companies." The D20 System logo says "I'm D&D compatible--mostly" and consumers can track that "big" to get more for their games. Which is good. Now, along comes the Monster Manual II showcasing a set of open source creatures. And it fails to do the things that are required for proper license use. Yes, they have permission to use terms and names, etc. for the monsters that appear in the book, but fail to really show how the end user is to use the OGL. Wizards fail to update their own Section 15 with the copyright information. As license leaders, this shouldn't have happened. Now several people, laying eyes on the OGL for the first time will follow Wizards mistakes and end up failing to properly support the game they want to. Aside: Where in the blue blazes did those two creatures come from, as I can't find them in my copies of the Creature Collection--where they are said to originate. Personal thoughts: The Monster Manual II follows the Monster Manual as not the best example of getting setting details across. It offers more monster options, but doesn't really develop any setting to go along with it. |
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